Tornado Victims Recount Race to Survive

Rescuers search for lost animals in Moore, Oklahoma, the United States, May 20, 2013.

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DeadlyOklahomaTornadoAftermath:Photos

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On May 20, 2013, a two-mile wide EF5 tornado touched down in the Oklahoma City suburbs, killing 24 people. Here, workers repair tornado-damaged power lines on May 23, 2013 in Moore, Oklahoma.

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Children play in a tornado-destroyed neighborhood in Moore, Oklahoma, the United States, May 22, 2013.

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Lawrence family clean up a tornado-destroyed preschool in Moore, Oklahoma, the United States, May 22, 2013.

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This aerial view shows the destruction of the Plaza Towers Elementary School (L) and neighboring streets. Parents and teachers in the school huddled in hallways over the children facing the walls as the tornado destroyed everything around them. Several children died.

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Rescue workers continue to search through rubble of Plaza Towers Elementary School on May 21, 2013 in Moore, Oklahoma.

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An aerial view of Briarwood Elementary school destroyed after a powerful tornado ripped through the area on May 21, 2013 in Moore, Oklahoma. Despite the damage, the school reported no fatalities.

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Macie Thompson looks over tornado damage at Briarwood Elementary School on May 21, 2013 in Moore, Oklahoma.

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Shown is the storm shelter that Gary and Ferrell Mitchusson used to ride out a massive tornado on May 21, 2013 in Moore, Ok. Their home was completely destroyed in the massive tornado.

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Rescuers search for lost animals in Moore, Oklahoma, the United States, May 20, 2013.

Nathan Ulepich searches outside the back of his house destroyed by the tornado.

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Yvonne Barragar, Joe Marshall and Barbara Garcia sit in front of Barragar's destroyed house after a powerful tornado ripped through the area.

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St. Louis Cardinals players bow their heads during a moment of silence for the Oklahoma tornado victims before a baseball game against the San Diego Padres at Petco Park in San Diego, Calif. Similar scenes could be found at sporting events up and down the country.

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View Caption+#23: A vehicle lies upside down in the road in Moore, Oklahoma.

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View Caption+#24: Dana Ulepich looks at the debris from her house.

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Dana Ulepich searches inside a room left standing at the back of her destroyed house.

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Piles of debris and mangled trees remain after a powerful tornado ripped through the area on May 20, 2013 in Moore, Oklahoma.

Residents who survived the massive tornado that barreled through an Oklahoma City suburb described racing for shelter only to emerge scarred and bloodied on a moon-like landscape of debris.

Alarms had sounded as the black funnel bore down on the suburb of Moore in the middle of the afternoon Monday, but no one anticipated the massive destruction that left dozens of people dead, including at least 20 children.

A woman with red scrapes on her face identified only as Elizabeth described to local television station KFOR-TV how she sped down a highway to try to get home to save her dog Ginger.

Once there, she jumped into a bathtub with the dog and an armful of pillows as the tornado shattered her windows. The twister lifted everything up and the next thing she knew, she had come to in the ruins of her home.

"I cannot believe we actually survived this thing," she said as she held the leash of her dog, which was apparently unharmed.

Stable worker Lando Hyde also thought of his animals first, racing to release several horses before diving into the stable to seek shelter. The storm tore down the stalls and dropped a pickup truck on top of them, he told KFOR.

"It was just unbearably loud and you could see stuff flying everywhere," he said.

Even seasoned weather forecasters were shocked at the two-mile (three-kilometer) wide swath of vicious winds, which packed more force than a maximum-strength category five hurricane.

The tornado destroyed at least two schools, including the Plaza Towers elementary school, where at least seven children were killed, according to CNN.

A sixth-grader identified only as Brady told CNN how he and other children were led into the bathrooms by teachers as the storm bore down only to be hastily evacuated later because of reports of a gas leak.

Rescue efforts began almost immediately, as concerned residents ran up and down the blocks of flattened houses calling out for survivors.

The search continued late into the night as first responders dug through the rubble, with the toll expected to rise.

The Midwestern state of Oklahoma lies in the so-called "Tornado Alley," a vast area from South Dakota to Texas that is prone to twisters, and a tornado carved a similar path through the Oklahoma suburbs in 1999, killing 44 people.